


Victorious

by sunflower123



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: Books, F/F, Fencing, Missing Scene, Old Friends, Theatre
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-27
Updated: 2018-07-27
Packaged: 2019-06-17 07:55:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15456762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflower123/pseuds/sunflower123
Summary: This is the story about how Patsy won from Mother Gertrude while still living in the convent. There are two parts to this fic!!So I am a little late on the pupcake train. I had binge watched the entire show until season six and thought it was a shame that fencing wasn't mentioned again and that we never saw Patsy fence. So I made this! I hope you like it!!This story is not abandoned i promise. it's all just going very slowly.





	Victorious

Patsy made her way to the practice hall confidently and briming with excitement. Today was the semi annual day that the students could challenge Mother Gertrude to a duel. The day was 'organised' once a year at the half way mark and Patsy had been preparing for it since the start of the school year. As she walked inside she felt almost everyone turn to look at her. She quickly spotted her best friend smirking at her on the opposite side of the room.

There was a nervous sort of excitement hanging in the hall. All children in anticipation of what was about to happen.

In the middle of the room the matches against the nun had already started.  
One by one the girls tried to beat the nun. Non of them succeeded.

And no one ever had, as far as Patsy knew.

But this year, Patsy thought, this year she was gonna do it. After all the restrictions and rules put on them. All the faces of the nuns that were never kind and always judging. 

After all of that she wanted to make a statement, to have some act of rebellion she wouldn't really get into trouble for. She still wanted to go to nursing school, she had to somewhat stay on the nuns good side. 

But this was going to be her moment

She felt her confidence rise even more at the smirk of her best friend. But the moment she stepped in line and felt her sabre at her side she took a deep breath and surpressed the emotion. 

 

She had read in a book called 'the art of war' that it was best for your enemy to think you are weak. 

The book was an English edition of an old Chinese scripture about the best way to win a war. 

Though she wasn't fighting a war, she was fighting someone. And that someone was powerful. 

When she had first gotten the idea of beating mother Gertrude she had known that she wasn't going to be able to cut it on training and skill alone. Not against the decades of experience the nun had on her. 

So she was going to have to do something surprising, and she was going to need some good tactics for it. 

That why she had immediately gone to the library and picked out all the books on fencing and strategies. 

This book had been amongst them. 

It was thin and only had the words 'the art of war' on the back. 

Unsuspecting she had picked it out and held it in her hand to inspect the cover.

Immediately she mistook the Chinese characters for Japanese and let the book fall on the ground in shock.

She looked at it in disgust. Images of the camp and the wretched conditions flying in front of her mind's eye. 

She could almost hear the soldiers yell at her in a language she didn't understand but oh so hated. 

Flashes of her mother, sister and other people dying of malnutrition, illness and other things came to her. Together with the images of people tied to the flagpole of the rising sun as they burned alive in the sun. Ironic, if it wasn't so horrible. The Japanese had probably found it funny she thought bitterly. 

She had started breathing heavily and felt the books slip out of the grip her left arm had on them.

Quickly she snapped out of it, swallowed and held tighter onto the books. There was no time to be weak now, she reasoned, still starring at the book on the floor as if it was a dead rat. 

She lifted her foot slightly, ready to kick the book under the bookcase. 

But just as she was about to do it she changed her mind. She would need all the help she could get. 

Perhaps taking some of her enemies tactics could be an advantage to her. 

She hesitated for a moment, her hand twitching a bit at her side. Then she swiftly picked up the book and added it to her pile. Quickly she scanned the bookcase and found a book on the history of fencing which she added to the pile as well to cover the smaller book. 

And maybe, she thought allowing her mind to go to the book one last time, maybe she wasn't going to need it after all. Maybe the other books would be enough and she could put the small book unopened back into the bookcase. She would never have to think about it again.

She had, ultimately, been wrong. 

After weeks of almost obsessively spitting through the books she had come up fruitless. At least in the strategy department. 

She had found great ones on fencing moves, but others were only about the history of war. 

Patsy could see that her almost obsessive determination to succeed was concerning Amelie. 

Amelie was Patsy's best friend and roommate. She knew about her plan and was ready to help in any way. 

She was the only person Patsy could absolutely trust. They talked about anything and everything and had no secrets for eachother. When Patsy was alone with Amelie it felt like nothing else in the world mattered.

Sometimes deep in the night, when they should have been sleeping but we're still talking, Patsy had the urge to kiss her. But she never did. 

She had known she felt this way about girls for a while. But everytime she wanted to think about it she dismissed the thought quickly. It was far to complicated and confusing to spend so much time on. Especially when she had so many other things to do. 

Finally, after rechecking all the books multiple times, she gave in. She knew deep inside she was being ridiculous about not wanting to read the book, but it had brought up too many emotions.

She reluctantly picked up the book from where she had hidden in under her school books on her desk and fell back onto her bed. 

She read the first page. It turned out to be something about the author and at first not very important but she read it anyway.

The tiny paragraph told her that the author had not been Japanese but Chinese.

She looked up from the book at the far wall as if to glare at herself. She closed her eyes, let the book fall on her lap and put her head in her hands. She sighed.

Well at least no one had seen it and the reading would now be a lot easier. 

She shook her head and refocused on reading the book. 

'The art of war' had clearly been written to be used by an army. It was an almost step by step guide for generals in old Chinese armies.

She thus almost but the book back down in disappointment. 

But when she thought a little more about what was being said and started applying some of the strategies to her own situation it started to make more sense.

What if she was one army and mother Gertrude was the other. If she took the text less literal and more symbolic it might still be of help.

The book was written in a way that made her feel a little like being in class. But in a good way, like biology. Where the facts where just put in front of her so she could easily understand it. No nonsense around it about things that didn't matter. Just everything told exactly how it was. 

After attentively reading the first two chapters she noticed that she should have taken notes. She was never going to remember all of it by just reading it. 

She stood up again and picked up a notepad and pen from her desk. She sat herself on the bed again and placed the notebook and pen next to her. She folded her legs under her, opened the book once again to the first chapter and started taking notes. 

There were surprisingly many of them. It was utterly fascinating how a thousand year old book could still be so useful. 

Patsy was relieved that she had picked up the book after all. Some part of her also regretted not having read it earlier. Or at least not recognizing the Chinese, could have spared her that trip down memory lane. Had she read it earlier she wouldn't have had to read all the other books either. 

But another, more superior, part of her mind argued that one could never have too much knowledge. And maybe the books would come in handy someday after all. It was always good to be passionate and do everything you can to achieve your goal. Her mother used to say that, and she always took it to heart. 

There were still some parts of the book she couldn't use. For example how treat your soldiers, she had no soldiers or people working for her. 

She was so occupied in her work that she didn't notice someone entering.

\--

Amelie quietly closed the door behind her. She walked into the room and then stood still for a moment, looking in wonder at the blond sitting on the bed on the left side of the room in deep concentration. 

She liked that about the girl. How she could put her mind to something and just keep working until she got what she wanted. 

Amelie herself could never do that, she always got way too distracted. Although in class that was mostly because Patsy was passing her notes with snarky comments about the material that was being thaught.

It was another one of the many things she liked about Patsy.

She approached the blond slowly, not wanting to disturb her. 

\--

Patsy was still so enraptured by her book that she barely felt the mattress sink a little next to her when Amelie sat down. 

"So, you have finally found something usefull?" 

"Mhhm." Patsy responded half-heartedly. She wanted to say more but had just come to a very interesting point and didn't dare break focus in fear of losing her thought. 

"What is it called?" Amelie asked craning her head to try and read the cover.

"The art of war" Patsy answered in a deep dazed voice. 

"Well, I still have some work to do" Amelie replied moving off the bed "but once you finish your notes show them to me okay?"

She was just about to walk to her desk when Patsy, done with her note and fully awake, grabbed her wrist.

"You're still gonna help me right?" She asked, suddenly unsure. 

Amelie looked at her, frowning "off course I will." She smiled, leaned back towards Patsy and kissed her on her cheek. Which in turn made Patsy redden and put a silly smile on her face. 

"Good luck" Amelie wispered and she turned back to her books. "You too" replied Patsy also turning back to her book.

After about two hours Patsy was done with the entire book. She reviewed the several pages she had filled one last time and layed 'the art of war.' with the notebook and pen back on her desk. 

She then turned her attention to Amelie who was sitting on her bed against the headboard still frowning at her books. 

She went over to Amelie's bed and flopped onto it on her tummy.

"Done!" She announced "what are you doing?"

"Bio" Amelie responded, frustration clear in her voice.

Patsy lifted her head in interest. 

"Anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, please" Amelie answered a bit desperately.

Patsy chuckled and moved to sit next to her against the head board to look at the notes. She tried to ignore the sudden proximity and focused on reading the books and notes. Once she read the main points and understood them she turned back to Amelie. 

"Ok so what don't you understand?" 

She sighed. "Everything. It's just this chapter, I can't make any sense of it. It's all just words."

Patsy smiled and explained the chapter again. 

After an hour of quizzing her untill she could almost dream the material the conversation changed onto other things such as future careers.

Amelie wanted to became a theatre actress. 

Patsy had seen almost all her performances at the convent and had absolute faith in her that she would make it. 

"Seriously Amelie, what makes you think you're not getting in? You're insanely talented!"

Amelie sighed "Off course you would say that. You're my best friend, you're biased."

Patsy rolled her eyes "no, I am not. Trust me, I already thought you were talented before I even knew you. And besides you need to have more confidence. If you don't and start out feeling too self-conscious, you might start to overthink things while performing, and then all kinds of things can go wrong." 

Amelie looked at her for a moment, trying to come up with a counter argument. But she came up with nothing and gave in with a huff.

"I guess you're right." She stared at the opposite wall for a moment before smiling and turning back to Patsy. 

"But what about you? When you get into nursing school" 

"If"

"When" Amelie looked at her pointedly. "You are getting in. But when you get in, what department would you want to work in?"

Patsy let out a breath. "Honestly, I don't know. There are so many possibilities."

They had put the books aside by now and were waiting for dinnertime. 

Amelie smiled "ok, so in what department do you absolutely not see yourself in? A&E ? Although that seems very exciting! Maybe Male surgical, it doesn't sound very appealing. " She grimaced " Or maybe neurology, although I find it very interesting. Maybe something with cancer or old people?" Amelie suggested. 

"I really don't know, maybe something like obstetrics?"

"That is midwifery and such right?" 

"Yes."

"Why though, it is a very noble thing to do?" Amelie smirked "is it because you'll blush?"

Patsy let out a huff in mock offence. "No! That would be highly unprofessional. It's just, I don't really see myself do it. I haven't really thought about it I guess." She shrugged starring at her feet in front of her.

"Well, you don't have to yet, it's still years off. You'll have to wait and see. You'll find your calling though, I'm sure." 

After a moment of silence Patsy broke it. "But midwifery though, I really don't see it happening. That's for sure." She then turned to Amelie. " Honestly if years into the future I am suddenly a midwife I am coming to one of your mayor plays on the West end so that you can laugh into my face afterwards." 

Amelie got a mischievous look in her eye then.

"Really?"

"Yes"

"Okey" Amelie started nodding "I want that in writing."

Now it was Patsy's turn to be surprised, she cocked one eyebrow.

"Seriously?"

"Yes, it's gonna be so much fun. And what are the chances of it actually happening?" Amelie replied while she got her notebook and opened it on an empty page. She then gave it together with a pen to Patsy. 

There Patsy wrote down while Amelie cited. 

'I Patience Elizabeth Mount will, if I ever become a midwife, come to one of the plays of Amelie Juliana Bergen so she can laugh in my face afterwards.' "oh and add 'and tell me 'i told you so'" Amelie said excitedly. 

"But you didn't tell me that" Patsy replied with one eyebrow raised. 

" I know, but it's not like we will remember. Plus it's a great line, one doesn't get many opportunities to say it in real life."

Patsy huffed " ok" and added the line. Then she wrote the date of that day on the paper, ripped it from the book and folded it in half. She gave the paper to Amelie.

"You are gonna have to remind me though" 

She grinned in response, taking the paper between her pointer finger and thumb, reaching under her pillow to retrieve her diary and putting it between the pages. Silently reminding herself that she was gonna have to write this conversation down. 

"Ah! So there it was hidden, I was wondering."

Amelie narrowed her eyes. "You wouldn't"

Patsy shrugged playfully. 

Amelie put the book back under her pillow.

"But shall we go over the notes on strategies you were gonna show me?"  
Patsy grinned and went to her desk to retrieve the note book. They both read side by side until dinner and in the following week they made a plan. 

The art of war' had stated that a person should only engage into a battle that they were sure they were gonna win. So they prepared as well as they possibly could. The enemy also had to underestimate you. And what better way is there then to make them think you weren't taking care of yourself. 

So throughout the next six months she had become more lazy with her appearance and had deliberately made mistakes in fencing practice. 

The nuns were still very strict so she couldn't do too much. But according to their reactions she was doing enough. 

During every break she had been training in a secret spot on the convents grounds.

Soon her classmates had started asking questions though. So she had to bring them into the fold. Some of them had wanted to beat not Gertrude as well. But she managed to convince them it was best if she were the only one to do it. 

The fact they there were more people involved now meant she could use more of the book. She wasn't going to treat her peers like soldiers, but they were a group of people she had to control now. She needed to be sure no one would tell on her. 

Thus they, according to the book and to logic, needed to trust her completely. They needed to be sure she was going to win, so she had to keep them updated on everything. 

This all meant she needed to play a social butterfly. She never had been, so that was a bit difficult in the beginning. But it got easier the more she did it.

They were all slowly going to still the process of their group. This way mother Gertrude would start to underestimate them all and get softer on them.

Patsy's classmates would, on the day of judgement, still lose. And once the expectations were lowered sufficiently Patsy would come in and beat mother Gertrude. 

So that is where Patsy stood now. On the day she had worked so hard towards. In line to take revenge. 

Suddenly she was a bit overwhelmed by all of it. Maybe she had judged everything wrong, maybe it hadn't worked. 

The girl in front of her had just been beaten and as she walked back she gave Patsy an encouraging nod.

She looked around her and saw the other girls smile at her as well. Amelie was grinning at her on the sidelines, and that was all she needed step forward.

____

 

Cheers erupted around her before she had even fully registered what had just happened.

Slowly she started coming back to reality and straightened up.  
She started grinning so wide her face almost burst as she was embraced by her classmates. 

Normally they wouldn't have dared being so impulsive and rambunctious. But the adrenaline that had coursed through the room with Patsy's win had been too much for anyone to remember manners. 

Patsy felt like she was floating on air. 

The moment was quickly interrupted by the nun. She ordered them all to stand quietly in one line and gave them all extra chores for the rest of the week because of their behaviour.

Then she called Patsy forward. 

Suddenly she felt very exposed and expected the nun to be angry with her. If not for winning then for concealing her process. 

"Patience Mount" she started with a strange sort of look in her eyes. "I see you have improved without my knowledge. Usually I would not mind that, weren't it that you deliberately kept it from me and made me believe you had not. We do not encourage that sort of behaviour here Miss Mount, you know that. Your win does show great intellect so I am going to give you a warning. If you, in the remainder of this year, do such a thing again, conciquences will follow. Is that understood? Mother Gertrude said sternly. Patsy nodded. Then the nun gave Patsy a congratulatory handshake and went back to address the rest off the class, challenging them to do what Patsy just did.

She didn't know if she expected a worse punishment, but she still felt strange about the sisters words. But it didn't really matter to Patsy in that moment.

Patsy felt great, powerful, brave. So brave in fact that after a small, sneaky celebration in one of the other girls rooms when she and Amelie arrived back in their room she kissed her. 

She had done it in a rush of confidence, which was immediately followed by doubt. What if she had read everything wrong, what is Amelie didn't like her the way she liked her. 

But those worries were quickly erased when Amelie kissed her back. When they broke apparatus they grinned like idiots. 

"I have been wanting to do that for a while." Said Patsy "me too" Amelie replied.

They sat on Patsy's bed against the headboard together talking, holding hands and stealing kisses. 

Throughout the rest of the year they stayed together, keeping their relationship development a secret. 

They both got accepted into the school's they wanted, again using the book for advise.  
At the end of the year they broke up. It wasn't messy, they cried but they both wanted to start at their new schools unattached so they would only have to worry about their studies.  
They did promise to keep in contact, but through the years they had been so busy that it became almost impossible.


End file.
